Hon-Yin and Suet-Fong Chan Professor, School of Chinese, University of Hong Kong
I recently recorded an entertaining podcast conversation with my colleagues Justin Tiward (HKU) and Richard Kim (Loyola) about Zhuangist ethics, in which our starting point is how the Zhuangzi story of the goose that couldn’t honk offers a critical response to other Zhuangzi writings on the theme of the use of the useless. The podcast…
My new annotated translation of the Zhuangzi has been published by Oxford University Press in the UK and is available for pre-order in North America, with delivery in February. The book is part of the very reasonably priced Oxford World’s Classics series. The cover image reflects a prominent motif in the Zhuangzi, the useless tree….
My new monograph Zhuangzi: Ways of Wandering the Way has just been published in the UK by Oxford University Press. It is scheduled to ship in North America on August 1. A 30% discount is available by ordering online at https://global.oup.com/academic/ using promotion code AAFLYG6.
Update: Videos from this event have recently been posted on line. My talk is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38U1Pl8yl98 I spoke (virtually) on March 14, 2023, at a rewarding workshop on the Zhuangzi entitled “2023 Zhuangzi beyond the Inner Chapters in Seoul,” hosted by the K-Academic Expansion Project, Institute of Korean Philosophy and Culture, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul,…
In what is probably among the first events of its kind — and I hope a harbinger of more — the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at CUHK is organizing an international workshop wholly devoted to the major Qing thinker Dai Zhen 戴震 on March 15-16. The workshop announcement is here. My paper…
On February 2, the very constructive Sihaiweixue 四海為學 program organized by Paul D’Ambrosio hosted a book discussion on my recent book, Late Classical Chinese Thought. It was an honor and a pleasure to discuss the book with Karyn Lai, Winnie Sung, and Ellie Wang, among with Paul and other participants. A recording of the conversation…
In October I was honored to be invited to speak at “How Legitimate is the Philosophical Canon,” a conference on comparative Greek-Chinese philosophy held at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I am grateful to Pantelis Golitsis for organizing this event. My contribution to the discussion is linked here: Aristotle and Xunzi on the Good Life
Malcolm Keating recently interviewed me about Late Classical Chinese Thought for the New Books Network. It was a pleasure to discuss the book with such a careful reader. A podcast of the interview is here. Be sure also to check out Malcolm’s fascinating work on language and argumentation in Sanskrit philosophy.
In October 2023 David Chai in the Department of Philosophy at CUHK organized a stimulating and (to me) fruitful roundtable on Brook Ziporyn’s new translation of the Daodejing, along with an interpretive essay Brook published to accompany the book. Here is the event announcement: https://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/web/zh-hant/node/753 My contribution to the discussion is posted here: Inversions, Leftovers,…
As part of a regular summer program in the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University, I had the pleasure of meeting a circle of bright, enthusiastic students and up-and-coming young colleagues while teaching a mini-course this July. The course was devoted to early Chinese epistemology, which besides its inherent interest offers many potential insights and…